Dissertation Details

Dissertation Proposal

At the time students take the written part of the Ph.D. comprehensive examination they must submit a dissertation proposal. The dissertation proposal is a five-page document with an appended bibliography that explains in detail the proposed thesis topic, the critical instrument chosen to approach it, existing scholarship on the subject, and an overarching plan for its development. The proposal is prepared in consultation with the thesis adviser but it is revised and evaluated by all the members of the student's graduate committee. The proposal is one of the three areas on which the student is evaluated during the Ph.D. oral comprehensive examination.

Dissertation

A dissertation or thesis is a formal and systematic discourse or treatise advancing an original point of view as a result of research. A dissertation is required of all candidates for the doctoral degree.

The student must submit a proposal to his or her dissertation committee for approval at the time of the written comprehensive examinations . The proposal should follow the general guidelines in the Regulations for Thesis and Dissertation Preparation. A copy of the approved proposal must be filed with the Dean of Graduate Studies at least one full semester prior to defense of the dissertation or thesis.

Students who have completed all course work must register in SPN 6xxx during the semester in which he or she expects to be admitted to candidacy. Students fully admitted to candidacy subsequently register in SPN 7972 Dissertation Research. Candidates must be registered in at least one credit-hour of dissertation research every semester --including at least one summer term-- once he or she begins such preparation. The candidate must be enrolled for dissertation credits during the semester in which the doctoral degree is awarded.

Upon completion of a dissertation or thesis, the degree candidate will submit to the Dean of Graduate Studies an application for thesis or dissertation defense signed by the dissertation director. The application must be filed in sufficient time to allow the Dean of Graduate Studies to publish the notice in a monthly calendar of dissertation and theses defenses for the University community.

Four copies of the final version of the dissertation, prepared in accordance with the most recent edition of the MLA Style Manual or MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Paper and the FIU Guidelines for Thesis and Dissertation Writers (available from the Office of Graduate Studies), together with an abstract in English of a maximum of 350 words, must be submitted to the Dissertation Committee at least four weeks before the Oral Defense of the Dissertation, which must be scheduled no less than two weeks before the candidate plans to receive the degree.

Dissertation Defense

The date, time, and place of the Defense will be announced by memo from the Dissertation Director at least two weeks in advanced to the rest of the committee, the candidate, the Director of Graduate Studies, the department Chairperson, the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Dean of Graduate Studies and Media Relations.

The oral defense, which is open to public, will take the following form: 10-15 minute presentation by candidate, 10 minute question period from each member of the dissertation committee.

Following the successful defense, as determined by a majority vote of the student's committee, the dissertation or thesis is forwarded to the academic dean and to the dean of graduate studies for their approval.

The Ph.D. dissertation must be completed within five years of the doctoral comprehensive examination, or the examination will have to be retaken.